"Ice Release: Ice Storm!"
Just as Qingming had destroyed five of the enemy's warships and was preparing to do the same to the sixth, reinforcements from the Mist Ninjas finally arrived from the distance.
The leader, his face full of killing intent, began to cast an Ice Release technique even before getting close.
In an instant, a violent wind blew!
The howling cold wind, carrying massive amounts of water vapor, began to spin wildly. In no time, the surroundings turned into a frozen wasteland.
The rapid temperature drop caused the water vapor to condense into snowflakes, which then fused together to form small, sharp ice crystal shuriken, flying toward Qingming.
"Ice Release?"
Looking at the incoming ice storm, Qingming muttered to himself.
He immediately halted the jutsu he was about to cast, showing no hesitation, and used the chakra wings on his back to soar into the sky.
Though the ice storm covered a vast area, its speed was average, and before it could get close, Qingming had already distanced himself far beyond its range.
Thus, it passed under him without inflicting any damage.
At this moment, Qingming finally stopped destroying the Mist Ninja warships and instead focused his attention on the incoming reinforcements.
Whoosh~
A figure suddenly appeared next to the Mist Ninja who had just cast the "Ice Release: Ice Storm." It was none other than Oze Yushu.
Now, including Oze, the reinforcements consisted of four elite Mist Ninjas—each a true Jonin. Additionally, there were dozens of Chunin and Genin, enough to form a small battalion.
However, such a force would be adequate to deal with ordinary opponents, but when facing Qingming, to be honest, it was not enough!
Without delay, Qingming raised his hand, formed a seal, took a deep breath, and cast a jutsu—Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
As usual, Qingming's first move against a force of this size was to disrupt their formation with his "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
However, this time the enemy was different from previous ones.
Almost as soon as the whirlwind burst from his mouth, the Mist Ninja from the Yuki clan, who had just used "Ice Release: Ice Storm," performed another Ice Release technique.
"Ice Release: Ice Wall!"
In the next moment, a large amount of seawater gathered and crystallized, forming a massive ice wall about ten meters high and twenty to thirty meters long.
The gust of wind released by Qingming struck the ice wall, leaving deep cuts across its surface, but it failed to harm the Mist Ninjas behind it in the slightest.
Upon seeing this, Qingming couldn't help but speak aloud: "As expected, the maritime environment really enhances the power of these Ice Release users."
When he first encountered a Yuki clan ninja from the Mist village, Yukikaze, he noticed this problem and had been thinking of ways to counter it ever since.
Unfortunately, there seemed to be no good solution.
Unless the battlefield could be moved to land or a much hotter environment, the Ice Release abilities would be significantly more effective in an environment filled with water vapor like this.
And clearly, the Mist Ninjas would not follow him into such a disadvantageous environment, nor could he leave here himself.
If it were before, Qingming might have attempted to engage the enemy in close combat, trying to kill them, or at worst, force a battle of attrition.
His Fire Release might only be at fifty or sixty percent effectiveness in this environment, but if he piled on chakra, he could eventually wear the enemy down.
But today, things were different. He didn't need to go toe-to-toe with them. His mission was to lure the Mist Ninjas away and reduce the pressure on the frontlines, ultimately forcing them to retreat.
Thus, all he had to do was continue targeting their warships.
With that thought in mind, Qingming wasted no time in abandoning his standoff with the enemy and flapped his wings, flying toward the farthest warship.
Seeing this, Oze Yushu and the other three Mist Jonin's expressions immediately darkened.
Without hesitation, they threw dozens of poisoned kunai and shuriken embedded with explosive tags toward Qingming.
However, due to the distance and Qingming's head start, none of the projectiles hit him.
He simply flapped his wings lightly to avoid the attacks.
Immediately, he accelerated to his maximum speed and flew toward his target ship.
"Chase!"
Seeing this, Oze Yushu shouted and ordered the team to pursue.
As he spoke, he took the lead and chased after Qingming.
The others quickly followed suit.
Soon, Qingming reached the target warship and hovered above it. The Mist Ninjas on board immediately began attacking, but Qingming easily dodged their strikes.
In response, he unleashed a fire dragon and a fireball.
Not bothering to observe the damage caused, Qingming glanced back at the Mist Ninjas pursuing him, immediately choosing a new target, and flew toward it.
As before, he targeted the warship farthest away.
Qingming's plan was to rely on the speed and agility granted by his "Wind Release: Wind Wings" to outmaneuver the enemy, forcing them to chase him while they only ate his dust.
Did Oze Yushu and the others understand his intentions?
The answer was, of course, yes.
But they had no choice but to play along with Qingming's strategy.
This was because, when sailing on the sea, ships always kept a safe distance from one another to avoid collision.
Though the Mist Ninja warships had moved closer after stopping, they still maintained a certain distance for the sake of ease of retreat.
Thus, despite the Mist Ninjas now clustering their ships together, there was still some space between them.
To prevent more ships from being destroyed, Oze Yushu and the others had no choice but to pursue relentlessly, not allowing Qingming any more time.
And so, Qingming was confident he could continue his guerrilla tactics.
However, as time passed, Qingming's operational space grew increasingly limited.
Especially once the Mist warships drew closer together and Oze Yushu and the others divided into four groups to guard the four cardinal directions, he would no longer have the opportunity to destroy the Mist warships.
As for picking them off one by one…
That wasn't realistic either.
Moreover, Qingming didn't want to do that.
First of all, the four leaders were all true Jonin.
Although Qingming was stronger than them, without the use of his Mangekyō Sharingan, he couldn't simply eliminate them.
Not to mention, they had about ten Chunin and Genin with them, providing significant support.
There was no need for Qingming to do such a thankless task.
Secondly, though the Mist Ninjas were spread into four directions, they weren't far apart, and they could easily support each other, making the idea of picking them off individually unrealistic.
Lastly, and most importantly, there was no reason for him to take such a risk.
His goal was to apply pressure on the Mist Ninjas on the frontlines, not to completely sever their escape routes.
If all the ships were destroyed, the Mist Ninjas would have no choice but to continue fighting, even if they didn't want to.
Thus, leaving a few ships intact was necessary.
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